Stoke City vs. Tottenham Hotspur.

With Chelsea all but guaranteed a Champions league place, Spurs could put some pressure on Arsenal with 3 points at The Britannia.

Despite being hard to beat for the first half of the season, with only three defeats in their first twenty-one games (all comps). Drawing twelve of them, kept Stoke in the lower to mid table region of the Prem and struggling for points, but only three wins in 2013, gave real concern that they might get relegated, and but for recent wins over Norwich and QPR, they could still be in serious trouble.

The facts are clear this season, that Stoke have gone from being a team that you had to battle for your lives to get anything, to a team that has lost its bite and organisational qualities and you wonder, now that they look like being safe for another year, taking their feet off the gas, could, or will hopefully cause them problems, against a Tottenham side that mush get three points or possibly kiss good bye to their own season.

You would like to think that Spurs will be right up for this game and a win may well put the pressure back on Arsenal, who face FA Cup winners, Wigan (Yes thats right…) on Tuesday, knowing that they have to win to regain their top four place. You would like to think that gaining a very creditable draw at Stamford Bridge in midweek will be a major boost and be seen as a point gained as opposed to two being lost, however that will count for nothing unless the boys get six points and hope for some mini capitulation from our beloved neighbours.

AVB will hopefully have Mousa Dembele back in contention, but you have to wonder if playing a not quite fit player, is beneficial, and we should consider other options, with perhaps Huddlestone, alongside one of Parker or Holtby, would be sensible, especially when we have worries over Lennon and perhaps Bale, who both seem to be struggling themselves.

After what we hope will have been a defining game for Emmanuel Adebayor at Chelsea, you assume that he will get the start over Defoe, whilst I can see Gylfi Sigurdsson starting on the left in preference to Holtby and Dempsey, should both Bale and Lennon start as expected. Defensively, I would assume that Walker, Dawson and Vertonghen will all start, but I have a feeling that AVB will prefer the right footed Naughton to counter the left footed Charlie Adam at left back. I suppose when we talk about Adam, we hope above all else that he stays well away from a certain Welshman.

Wigan have a chance and they will give it everything. They beat Arsenal and then it goes to last game for them against Villa where there is only 1 goal difference it is in their hands to beat Arsenal and as for celebrating I think it was announced they can only celebrate with Iron Brew.

We have to do our own job first and that is to put in a huge performance and beat Stoke who are probably safe as they have a far supier goal difference compared to Wigan if they win both there matches and Stoke lose both of theirs - that being -10 Stoke -23 Wigan. So unless Wigan beat Arsenal and Villa by about 15 goals I expect Stoke to be safe regardless.

The teams with similar goal difference as Wigan is Newcastle and Norwich I believe. With Newcastle playing QPR they will be looking to get three points although even if they win QPR they are not safe if Wigan beat Arsenal due to their poor goal difference so Newcastle will need to get something from their last game against Arsenal to be absolutely sure and make sure of PL survival because beating QPR takes them to 41 points like Villa but with similar goal difference as Wigan and Villa.

If QPR get something from Newcastle then they may well have to win against Arsenal.

The emphasis is on us to do our job which we should be able to and then it is up to Arsenal to do there's so whichever team doesn't do there job we could say don't deserve to get CL. Us for bottling it or Arsenal for letting it slip.

Having watched Sunder v Stoke last week, I am optimistic re our chances here. Personally, I’d rest Lennon for this. What’s the point of wrecking his summer and long term health. He was clearly not quite fit against Chelsea, though one has to admire his willingness and determination for the team. A great example!. If we are able to dominate the midfield, and handle their giants, our quality should produce the desired result. Hope Bale is a lot more involved than in the Chelsea game. Spurs win with a clean sheet. COYS! BTW, my team would be Lloris, Verts, Caulker, Daws, Walker, parker, Thudd (Demb if fit), Bale, Siggy, Hotby, Ade. I’d definitely choose Caulker (instead of BAE or Naughton) to counter Stoke’s physicalilty + aerial threat ....Defoe to come on midway through 2nd half, i.e, energy against tired legs, by which time Hotby would be aching for a rest!

Hudd had a nightmare against Chelsea. Thier mobile and fluid midfield completely over ran him, if Hudd does start he will most likely be up against Adam and N'Zonzi which is a completely different style which he faced wednesday night so hopefully im expecting him to have more of an influence as they are less fluid. Stoke have their 150 year celebration so hopefully they are not too fired up, a nice low key 1 nil win will do me.

If Wigan fail to win against Le Scum,Our season and their season is over.Newcastle relegations fears all fade if they win against Qpr and last game wont matter for them!So our fate pretty much rests in Lactics hand.COYS

As long as BAE doesnt start the last two games of the season. He clearly looks dis-interested, and was our worst player against Chelsea, if he wasnt out of place and so easily beaten as he looked on, we could have got more from that game. if Moyes doesnt bring Baines to UTD we should get him. Sadly Arsenal wont slip up, every season the *****ers just seem to hit a run, and we wont catch them now. So the question is, how much will Levy back AVB in the transfer market, and how will we treat the Europa league next season? it clearly cost us this season.

We just got to take the fight to the last day. Stoke will be tough, we havent been defending set pieces well lately. Its key we score first against them. I hope Ade & Bale score for us. A draw is simply not an option. Got to win.

The team should be Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Caulker and Verts: Hudd and Dembele; Bale, Sigurdsson, Lennon; Ade.
We need height at the back a la against the spammers, Hudd's passing to set Lennon and Bale free!

I know we talk about our strikers a lot but since start of April we have scored on average 2 goals a game with the Southampton game the only one where we scored a single goal. That has to give us confidence that we can give Stoke problems. My only concern is at the other end where the Dawson / Vertonghen partnership hardly looks solid, our central midfield doesn't protect our goal well enough and LB is vulnerable whoever plays. Perhaps it's time to stick Defoe and Adebayor together with Bale and Lennon wide and go for it. I expect though that we'll play Adebayor up top on his own and load up a fluid midfield. Gutted I'm on a plane and will not find out until 8pm.

Ok this is my last game of the season..still thinking of going AWOL for the week so i can be at the sunderland game, (funny that the mobile phone network to thailand is allways going down ..lol) as
sydqcb5 says set pieces are going to be our bigest problem i hope loris will be our 3rd central defender for them. Adam and Bale mmm going to be interesting i am sure adam will give him a good kick first chance hes got,, i hate to rely on refs but this time bale will need some kind of protection. Hud BAE and Parker ..sorry but iam not convinced they are up for the task and thats my biggest concern.
Before i forget congratulations to Wigan what a result, wish i had a tenner on that one. I might just go and do a double on Chelsea and Bayarn losing in next weeks finals.

No ifs and buts.................2 games. 2 wins and 6 points!! Looking for a positive performance on Sunday, no sh*g and hassle knocking it about in Midfield and hoping to Bore the opposition into a mistake please!! COYS

LOOSERS, in your face M0THERFU(KERS. guess what i guys play Europa League every season and get *****ed by pub team from norway. we play it for the first time and win it. This is class. bunch of jokers. u r fu(king disgrace of london. we have done our part and Arsecum to ***** you lot once again.

Hmmnmm ...another moron on here... that's why the Russian's team are called Chavs...and no one likes them... OX why have you not deleted these posts???? other vital sites do.. and we know which ones!!!

it so much fun to see you guys *****ting your lily whites dirty. next time you will play for relegation, i wud be having so much fun watching your next couple of match, everytime ref mugs you off, everytime those wrestlers from britania factory pins you down kicks your butt, sooo much njoymewnt, you MFs deserves it.

Great to see Wigan win the FA cup, it restores some faith in the distorted money driven world of football. For me anything that the chavs and City win is null and void, no different than playing with two extra men. I have no problem with Man U or even Arsenal winning trophies as they are self financed. Very well done Wigan, now stay up. COYS.

last term u finished fourth still could not play CL, this term you lot stack up highest points ever still wud not be able to play CL. wat a joke of a football team. this is true justice. love it. next time get relegated and stay in championship for 100 years.

BlueBoyChelsea:you can tell he is still at school.he uses the word 'term' not season.....he must be on half-'TERM'......maybe when his voice breaks,he grows some pu8es and learns how to be a bit more constructive with his comments....we may...just may,take him seriously.

City and Chelsea winning trophies reminds me of stories of 21 year old money grabbing girls being bought Ferraris and expensive jewellery by their 70 year old sugar daddies. Do they appreciate those things as much as those who've worked hard over many years to afford them? Course they don't. Or are they as happy as normal 21 year old girls going out with their mates and dating blokes their own age. Course they not. Special shout out to Dave Whelan - he spent a lifetime working to get back to Wembley to put right his broken leg in the final 50 odd years ago!

They don't make straitjackets like they used to! I expect us to struggle early on (sending the matchday posters into conniptions) but for it all to come good at the end in a rather less than totally convincing victory. Fingers crossed that a surfeit of glory hasn't left Wigan incapable of surviving the drop.

your sunday will anyways be spoilt either by ref or by stoke wrestlers, i just started it a bit earlier. it's always good to pile up misery on spurs. u guys never leave chance to do that to us then why expecting a favor

Sensible people can add to the debate. Even if they appear as biased in favour of their team as many of us are in favour of Spurs.

However, those who are childish and vindictive should be completely ignored. After all, presumably much of their motivation is driven by the expected responses of supposedly outraged Spurs supporters.

In some cases; perhaps the poor person repeated posting on this particular thread, there could be underlying causes for their behaviour. I suspect in this case, the likelihood is that we are visited by a mentally unstable subject. Unless of course, the person in question really is a particularly badly behaved child, under the age of seven years. Either way, it seems that the poor wretch has suffered some extremely unfortunate experience(s),

BlueBoyChelsea- not bothered about your comments re our team and set up but what is disturbing is the fact that you must have low intelligence, low morals and are an absolute disgrace to be so foul mouthed on a community website where many people of both sexes and ages partake in debate. Do you not have a conscience about how you speak? Our words reflect 'who we are' so what do your words reflect about you? As a parent I would be utterly ashamed if my child no matter what age they were spoke in such a manner. The aggression in your voice the words you use is beyond comprehension and obviously shows you have not reach the heights of a 'human being'.

The way you speak represents who you are - do you think decent human beings will take much notice of what you say, we just shake our heads and think 'oh dear' poor person another unconscious being creating negative vibes that will one day come back to him. It is so sad that you haven't managed to know, feel and understand what it is like to be a human being. Lets hope one day you do because it is this kind of behaviour that starts wars.

On a footballing note well done to Chelsea, they have secured their place.

back to Spurs - we may need Arsenal to slip up but no matter what happens we have done well in AVB first season. COYS

Stoke plan will be simple...?N'zonzi to cripple Bale, get corners, score goals. People assuming it will be easy for us, but with Harry's mate in charge of Stoke and our woeful defending it will be anything but. Hope the dream is still alive come 3pm.

Chavs reputation has always be in the gutter, since the days when they rebuilt Stamford Bridge.. which was again proven during the demolition & building the new wembley stadium, another owner followed with the British media questioning his business status.. during all of this their fans were complementing their club's reputation, and as seen on Vital Spurs today...

Topho, I may have overstated the case, but several predicted winning scores in the posts. As a glass half-empty person when it comes to Spurs (58 years of experience) I hate to jinx the lads by being over-confident in public! Of course, I still hope we win. Nice to see such an erudite analysis of our team from a supporter of a club that couldn't beat our weakened team at their ground and had to rely on dodgy refereeing decisions to beat Villa (not you Topho) don't you think?

Harry the Chav (pond life) Chelsea fan on here shows the worst of football. It's sad but I guess we all need to accept that even the very limited people amongst us have the right to support a team, however unintelligent they may be.

Agree Topho. Unfortunately, all clubs seem to have these type of characters. However, with the Internet we never really know who or what they are....maybe this one is a rattled Gooner in disguise! Anyway, let's hope the lads can top our glasses up this afternoon. COYS!

yes even i haven't seen the blue boy on vc. Good luck to you now that spurs are no longer involved in our champions league qualification. I honestly hate arsenal who want the champions league only for revenue. Chelsea, real madrid, barcelona, united play it to win.

Stoke will come at Spurs if only to help shape the final outcome of Premier League places and show they matter. I don't think it's a good idea putting on players not recovered enough from injuries to be effective and in danger of aggravating those injuries. Not playing them (or not for long) today but in a few days' time when they are fitter, would be better use of resources. Or score a couple of goals early and if possible bring off players who have contributed enough to keep fit(tish) but who now need a break so as not to threaten that. Spurs may be stretched going into today's match but do still have players in the squad to get the job done.

OX - Whatever happened to "abuse will not be tolerated"?? If that pathetic person is allowed to post on here just one more time, you need to take a long hard look at how you're running the site, mate.. Hopefully THE FEAR has seen what that person has said & acts swiftly to remove 'it' from the whole Vital network!!

Thanks to Blue India & layorh12, appreciate you both being grown-ups and posting in a respectable manner..